A few months ago I placed a flower between the pages of a beloved book for safe-keeping.  An innocent act motivated by the need to preserve some tangible piece of a moment that moved too quickly, and a last ditch effort to hold time in suspension out of fear of its passing.  But, it does, the minutes tick away and the pages of our lives turn without our notice and an entirely new chapter begins.

While I wasn’t aware of it, the touch of this rose, smashed between the layers of a narrative, had colored the pages surrounding it.  Its petals had left the slight hue of red, Its moisture had subtly warped the once crisp block of paper, the curves of its shape left a distinct embossment and there, between the covers dancing with the words I could make out its scent, propelling that memory into the past and the future in both the book and in me.

The layers of our lives cannot be separated, they inform, wilt, stain and inspire each other.  They house the beautiful details that run the risk of floating away if not pressed against one another, to whisper their secrets and alter the course of what could have been a stiff book, never read for fear of dog-eared pages.

For most it is easier to be at the cover, whether the beginning or the end.   While there, it is hard to see with clarity the in-between, the web of textures, colors, and memories.  This is where I believe Francesca lives.  Somewhere in the middle, sitting, with her legs crossed, breathing in the air, turning her head from side to side and admiring the tangled view.

-Visual Arts Editor, Liz McDonald

01. 1766 NW 61st Street (stage 1)
approcimately 36″ x 90″
layers of old wallpaper, white paint, graphite, wall, 2009

02. 1766 NW 61st Street (stage 2)
approximately 36″ x 90″
layers of old wallpaper, white paint, graphite, wall, 2009

Bisection 1
Outer dimensions 14″ x 14″
Water-based woodblock, cut paper, plexiglass, white frame 2010

Walls: Issaquah
Collaboration with Agata Michalowska
Permanent installation, Issaquah WA
Approximately 200 shapes based on templates created from observation of mold under the microscope
cut paper, pins, 2011

Walls (detail)

Walls: Envelope
25 cut paper shapes, envelope, pins, installation instructions, 2011

Aether (exterior view)
Collaboration with Lucas Lohmann
Closed book is 7″ x 11″ x 1/4″
Cover: gouache with embossing on Yamada Hanga, longstitch binding, 2012

Aether (interior view)
Collaboration with Lucas Lohmann
Open book is 7″ x 22″
Aquatint on gampi tissue, 2012

Untitled
(detail from “Untitled Pedestools” for the Lightness Exhibition at the 2011 City Arts Festival)
perforations, light beeswax, paper, plywood white paint, 2011

www.francescalohmann.com